Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

Haven't heard of that particular case, but the Therac-25 caused six people to receive 100 times the amount of radiation intended, killing three of them.

There were a number of issues, many UI-related, but what I found most interesting was that the prior Therac machines, which ran the same software, had hardware interlocks that allowed them to operate safely, masking software bugs. When the hardware interlocks were removed in the Therac-25, the buggy software was able to make the machine misbehave dangerously.

Citation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25




Therac-25 is the most famous incident, but it's just the tip of the iceberg. This is still happening, and it happens a lot.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/health/24radiation.html




Consider applying for YC's Summer 2025 batch! Applications are open till May 13

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: